Handling of annular articles



E. R; COMTOIS ETAL 2,782,901

HANDLING OF ANNULAR ARTICLES Feb. 26, 1957 Filed May 9, 1955 3Sheets-Sheet 1 e Bk wo 3 m N n WCD' O F td an an nrr Y 7 8H Y B 1957 E.R. COMTOIS ET AL 2,782,901

HANDLING OF ANNULAR ARTICLES Filed May 9, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 nINVENTORS Tnest R. Comtois BY Hlf'recl F Prentice H oTn Feb. 26, 1957 E.R. com'rols ETAL 2,782,901

HANDLING OF ANNULAR ARTICLES I Filed May 9, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 [FEB og o o o o b o I M T o in I 411 /77 INVENTORS E'rnest R. ComtoisyHl'f'rel 'f'. Prentice F I v I Htto-rney 2,782,901 HANDLING OF ANNULARARTICLES Ernest R. Comtois, Worcester, and Alfred F. Prentice,

West Boylston, Mass., assignors to Morgan Construction Company,Worcester, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application May 9,1955, Serial No. 507,020

Claims. (Cl. 198-177) This invention relates to the handling ofannulararti cles and, more particularly, to apparatus for transferringannular articles from a chain conveyor to a hook carrier.

In the handling of annular articles, there are many instances when it isdesirable to transfer the articles one by one from a conveyor on whichthe annular article lies with its major axis vertical to a hook carrierin which the annular article is suspended with its major axishorizontal. Such a situation arises, for example, in the manufacture ofmetallic rod in which the rod is formed into a horizontal annular coilby a reel and after the coil is completed, the coil is ejected from thereel ontoa horizontal chain conveyor which carries it away. The" coilsof rod are stored and handled, however, in a vertical position, and forthis purpose, it is usual practice to transfer the horizontal coil to ahook carrier on which it hangs downwardly in a vertical position. A hookcarrier carries the coil to a remote station where it is combined with alarge number of similar coils for handling and storage. The apparatus ofthe type used heretofore is shown in the patent to Morgan No. 1,895,046which was issued on January 24, 1933.- However-{the apparatus of theprior art has had a-number of disabilities which are becoming moreapparent. As time goes on, the coils are becoming bigger and bigger and,in many cases, the height of the coil is approaching a size which iscomparable with the inside diameter thereof." This means that extremecare must be used in handling, lest the coil become disarranged; at thesame time, it is-very difiicult to transfer such a high coil to a hookcarrier in the conventional manner. Other problems havearisen as willbeevident from the description which follows, but the disadvantages of theprior art have been obviated by the present invention in a novel manner.I p i It is, therefore, an outstanding object of this invention toprovide a rugged and inexpensive apparatus for the handling of annulararticles. a i

It is another object of this invention to provide an apparatus for thehandling of annular articles which apparatus provides for the continuoussupport of the thickness of the coiling during the transfer from ahorizontal to a vertical position.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatusfor transferring a coil of wire from a horizontal to a vertical positionwithout disarrangernent of the coils thereof.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide anapparatus for the handling of metallic rod in coil form wherein the coilhas a thicknessdimension "ice indie combination of parts set forth inthe specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.

The character of the invention, however, may be best understood byreference to certain of its structural'forms, as illustrated by theaccompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a plan view of an apparatus embodying the principles of thepresent invention,

Figure 2 is an elevation view of the apparatus,

Figure 3 is a sectional view with portions indicated bydotted lines ofthe apparatus taken along the line'33' of Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is a somewhat enlarged sectional view of the apparatus taken onthe line 44 of Figure. 1. I

Referring first to Figure 1, wherein is best shown the generalprinciples of the invention, a transferapparatus, indicatedgenerally bythe reference numeral 10, is shown as comprising two main conveyors 11and 12, atra'nsfer conveyor 13, and a hook carrier 14. The main con-'veyors 11 and 12 are parallel to one another and extend at a right angleto the transfer conveyor 13. They are of the endless chain type and areprovided with dogs 15 for moving the coil along the surface of theconveyor. The main conveyor chains 16 are best shown in Figure 4;

they pass over an idler sprocket 17 at the end which isadjacent to thetransfer conveyor 13. The transfer conveyor '13 is a double-track,endless-chain conveyor having A hook carrier consists of anend--upstanding dogs 18. less chain 1? on which are hung a plurality ofhooksZl).

A chain 19 passes around idler wheels 21,22 and-23,;

and a drive sprocket 24. The drive sprocket Z tan'dthe idler wheel 23are located so that the chain passes tangentially between the two alonga line exactly overlying the center line of the transfer conveyor 13.The hooks dependent from the chain 19 he in a central groove 25 in thesurface of the conveyor 13 during the passage of the chain from theidler wheel 23 to the drive wheel 24. The drive sprocket 24 is mountedon: a vertical shaft 26 which is geared to a. horizontal shaft 27,driven through a gear reduction unit 28 by a motor 2?. A transferconveyor 13 is provided with two grooves in its surface which lie oneither side of the central groove 25-. These grooves 30 carry chains 31bearing the dogs 18. The chains 31 are carried at one end and sprocketwheels 32 carried on a shaft 33 which is driven from the shaft 27through a belt 34. At the other end, the chains 31 are carried onsprockets 35 mounted on a-horizontal transfer shaft 36. As shown inFigures 1 and'4, the end of the conveyors l1 and 12 which lie adjacentthe transfer conveyor 13 are provided with supplementalpusher chains 37and 38 respectively, each lying centrally of the double-track of itsrespective main conveyor. Chain 37, for instance, is provided with apusher dog 39 which rises above the surface of the main conveyor 11-onoccasion. The chain 37 is mounted on a drive sprocket 40 at one end andan idler sprocket 41 at the other end. The drive sprocket 40 is mountedon a shaft 42 which is connected through a belt 4-3 to a transfer shaft44 on which the main conveyor drive sprocket 17 is mounted. The shaft 44is connected through a gear unit 45 to the shaft 36, which, as has beendescribed, is driven through the action of the chains 31 of the transferconveyor 13.

The construction of the hooks 20 is best shown in Figure 2. Each hookconsists of a shank 46, the upper end of which is pivoted at 47 to thechain 19; Extending from the lower end of the shank is a carrying bar48.

ing freely from the pivot 47 the bar 48is'inc1inedslightly abovehorizontal and the shank 46 extends at a considerable angle to thehorizontal. Normally, the hooks 20 travel down the groove 25 in a freelyhanging position. As they approach the left end of the transferconveyor, however, a junction of the bar 48 and the shank 46 which isreinforced strikes a cam plate 50, so that the carrying bar is graduallytilted from a position slightly above horizontal to a position extendingat a substantial angle to horizontal wherein the shank 46 isapproximately vertical. As is evident in Figure 2, the cam plate 50consists of a suitably supported curved metal plate located in thecentral groove 25 at the discharge end of the apparatus. The coils,indicated by the reference number 51, are shown in dotted lines ashaving a height which is approximately the same as the inside diameterthereof; they are thus susceptible to disarrangement and, of course, itis very ditficult to cause the conventional hook to enter the center ofthe coil and to lift it. The dogs 18 are L-shaped and have one leg 52considerably longer than the other leg 53. A pin 54 extends through thearea of the dog 18 adjacent the junction of the legs 52 and 53, andserves to piv-otally connect each dog to the chain 31. As the chain 31moves along and the dog moves through the groove 30 the short leg 53rests on the upper surface of an elongated earn track 55 which residesin the groove 30. As is evident in Figure 4, each cam track 55 consistsof a curved metal channel suitably supported in its groove 30 byvertical side plates. In this position, the leg 52 extends verticallyupwardly. The weight of the dog is balanced about the pin 54 in such amanner that the short leg 53 bears on the upper surface of the cam 55.The cam 55 is formed with a depression adjacent the discharge end of thetransfer cnveyor so that when the dog reaches the area of the cam 50 itbegins to tilt so that the leg 52 takes up a position considerablyinclined from the vertical; when the end of the cam 55 is reached, thedog takes a position wherein the elongated leg 52 is more or lesshorizontal. In Figure 4 is shown the manner in which the dog 18 rests onthe cam track 55. Figure 4 also shows the details of the construction ofthe chain 31 and the manner in which it is carried on rollers 56.

The operation of the apparatus of the invention will now be clearlyunderstood in view of the above description. The main conveyors 11 and12 are operated continuously and each pair of dogs on these conveyorscarries a coil 51. The gear ratios and drives which are describedhereinbefore provide for the main conveyors 11 and 12 traveling atone-half the speed of the transfer conveyor 13, and, of course, the hookconveyor 19 travels at the same speed as the transfer conveyor 13. Thismeans, then, that it is possible to provide every set of dogs 18 with acoil 51. Furthermore, every set of dogs 18 is matched with acorresponding hook 20 on the hook carrier 19. It is possible to keep thehook conveyor substantially full of coils, which is a very desirablesituation. The dogs 15 on the main conveyors carry each coil to aposition where it overlies the pusher apparatus 37 or 38. A dog 39 thenrises and moves the coil 51 onto the transfer conveyor 13 where it isengaged by a pair of dogs 18. The transfer conveyor and hook carriermove together from right to left. The coil is moved along by its dog 18,the dog being maintained with the leg 52 in a vertical position byengagement of the short leg 53 with the cam track 55. Each coil 51 ispreceded by a hook which hangs freely, with its carrying bar raisedslightly above horizontal. At first, there is no engagement between thehook 20 and the coil 51. When the hook 20 strikes the cam track 50,however, its carrier bar '48 has its outer end moved upwardly andbecause of the positional relationship between each corresponding dog 18and hook 20 the end of the bar begins to extend upwardly into the centerof the coil 51. Eventually, the lower edge of the coil nests into thejuncture between the carrier bar 48 and the shank 46 of the hook and,because of the rapid rise of the cam track 50 and a change in elevationof the chain 19 of the hook carrier, the forward side of the coil islifted slightly. This means that the rearward side of the coil which isengaged by the dog 18 is inclined rearwardly. The cam track 55 takescare of this by permitting the elongated vertical leg 52 of the dog toassume a slightly inclined position to support the coil. Eventually, thehook is raised high enough so that it engages the coil completely, thestraight carrier bar 48 serving to support the coil. When this situationis reached, it is no longer necessary to support the coil by means ofthe dog 18 nor is it necessary to push the coil along by means of thatdog. At that time, the dog 18 drops off the end of the cam track 55 andassumes a position in which the elongated leg 52 is substantiallyhorizontal and beneath the surface of the conveyor 13. The coil is thenin a substantially vertical position entirely supported by the hook 20and moves off with the hook carrier 19 for further processing. It is tobe noted that the relationship between the cam track 50 and the changesin elevation of the chain 19 of the hook carrier is such that during itscontact with the cam track 50 the hook is caused to change its aspect.The carrier bar 48 which in the freelyhanging position of the hook isslightly above horizontal slowly moves up toward a vertical positionuntil it assumes the same angle to vertical as the elongated leg 52 ofthe dog 18. It is in this position that the coil begins to be supportedby the hook carrier and the dog 18 is permitted to fall behind. It is tobe noted that the coils 51 rest on the main conveyors with the strandsin the same relationship as they were when they left the reel. Thismeans that the uppermost strands are those which came out of the rodmill last and which were formed in the reel last. In the rolling of rod,particularly in a straight-through rod-finishing stand, it is impossibleto avoid a considerable amount of fin at the rear end of the rod. Thisfin may appear on several turns of the coil and the finned section mustbe cut off, since it would not be acceptable to a person buying the rod.It is practically impossible to remove rod from the portion of the coilwhich is pressed against the shank 46. In the present invention,however, it is to be observed that the uppermost strands are those whichare situated outwardly of the shank 46 and, therefore, are accessiblefor the removal of the finned end. The back end has to be trimmed asthat is where the greatest fin end occurs.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form andconstruction of the invention without departing from the material spiritthereof. It is not, however, desired to confine the invention to theexact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include allsuch as properly come within the scope claimed.

The invention having been thus described, what is claimed as new anddesired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus for the handling of annular articles comprising ahorizontal transfer conveyor, a hook carrier having a portion whichover-lies the conveyor, the carrier arranged to move at the same speedas the conveyor, hooks depending from the carrier and residing in agroove in the conveyor during their passage thereover, dogs extendingupwardly from the conveyor, and a cam track engaged by each dog todetermine its aspect, the dogsengaging the articles and moving them inthe direction of movement of the conveyor and the carrier, a hookassociated with each dog and having the open end extending away from thedirection of the movement, a'second earn track engagedby each hook atthe end of its travel with the conveyor, the second cam track tiltingthe free end of the hook upwardly so that it enters the center of thearticle.

2. Apparatus for the handling of annular articles comprising ahorizontal transfer conveyor, a hook carrier hav- 7 ing a portion whichoverlies the conveyor, the carrier arranged to move at approximately thesame speed as the gamer conveyor, hooks depending from the carrier andresiding in a groove inthe conveyor, spaced dogs extending upwardly fromthe conveyor, means engaged by each dog to determine its aspect duringits travel along with conveyor, each dog engaging an article and movingit in the direction of movement of the conveyor, a hook associated witheach dog and having a free end extending away from the direction ofmovement, and means engaged by each hook during a portion of its travelwith the conveyor, the said last-named means tilting the free end of thehook upwardly so that it enters the center of the article.

3. Apparatus for the handling of annular articles comprising ahorizontal transfer conveyor, a hook carrier having a portion whichoverlies the conveyor, the carrier arranged to move at approximately thesame speed as the conveyor, hooks depending from the carrier, spaceddogs extending upwardly from the upper surface of the conveyor, meansengaged by each dog to determine its aspect during its travel along withconveyor, each dog engaging an article and moving it in the direction ofmovement of the conveyor, a hook associated with each dog during itstravel above the upper surface of the conveyor and having its free endextending rearwardly of the direction of motion, and means engaged byeach hook during a portion of its travel with the conveyor, thelast-named means tilting the hook so that its free end enters the centerof the article.

4. Apparatus for the handling of annular articles comprising a conveyorhaving a horizontal upper surface adapted to receive the articles, acarrier having a portion which overlies the conveyor, the carrierarranged to move at approximately the same speed as the conveyor, hooksdepending from the carrier and residing in a centrallylocated groove inthe conveyor, spaced pairs of dogs extending upwardly from the uppersurface of the conveyor and moving therewith, means engaged by each dogto determine its aspect during its travel along with conveyor and whileextending upwardly from the upper surface thereof, each pair of dogsengaging an article and moving it in the direction of movement of theconveyor, one of said hooks associated with each pair of dogs duringtheir travel above the upper surface of the conveyor and having its freeend extending rearwardly of the direction of motion, and means engagedby each hook during a portion of its travel above the conveyor, the saidlast-named means serving to tilt the hook so that it enters the centerof the annular article.

5. Apparatus for the handling of annular articles comprising a conveyorhaving a horizontal upper surface adapted to receive the articles one ata time, a carrier havingya portion which overlies the center of theconveyor, the carrier arranged to move at approximately the same speedas the conveyor, hooks depending from the carrier and having afree-ended carrier bar at their lower ends, each carrier bar residing ina centrallylocated groove in the upper surface of the conveyor duringthe passage of its hook over the conveyor, spaced pairs of dogsextending upwardly from the upper surface of the conveyor and movingtherewith, means engaged by each dog to determine its aspect during itstravel along with conveyor and while extending upwardly from the uppersurface thereof, each pair of dogs engaging an article and moving it inthe direction of movement of the conveyor, one of said hooks associatedwith each pair of dogs during their travel above the upper surface ofthe conveyor with the carrier bar extending rearwardly of the directionof motion, and means engaged by each hook during a portion of its travelwith the conveyor, the last-named means serving to tilt the hook so thatit enters the center of the annular article.

6. Apparatus for the handling of annular articles comprising anelongated conveyor having a horizontal upper surface adapted to receivethe articles one at a time, a

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conveyor having a portion which overlies the longitudinal center line ofthe conveyor, the carrier arranged to move at approximately the samespeed as the conveyor, hooks depending from the carrier and having afree-ended carrier bar at their lower ends, each carrier bar re sidingin a centrally-located groove in the upper surface of the conveyorduring the passage of its hook over the conveyor, spaced pairs of dogsextending upwardly from the upper surface of the conveyor and movingtherewith, cam means engaged by each dog to determine its aspect duringits travel with the conveyor and while extending upwardly from the uppersurface thereof, each pair of dogs engaging an article and moving it inthe direction of movement of the conveyor, one of saidv hooks associatedwith each pair of dogs during its travel above the upper surface of theconveyor and having its carrier bar extending rearwardly of thedirection of motion and a second cam means engaged by each hook during aportion of its travel with the conveyor to tilt the hook so that itenters the center of the annular article as the hook and article traveltogether along the center line of the conveyor.

7. Apparatus for the handling of annular articles comprising anelongated conveyor having a horizontal upper surface adapted to receivethe articles one at a time, a carrier having a portion which overliesthe longitudinal center line of the conveyor and having hooks dependenttherefrom, the carrier arranged to move at approximately the same speedas the conveyor, each hook having a free-ended carrier bar at its lowerend, the bar extending away from the dinection of movement of thecarrier, each carrier bar residing in a centrally-located groove in theupper surface of the conveyor during the passage of its hook over theconveyor, spaced pairs of dogs extending upwardly from the upper surfaceof the conveyor and moving therewith, cam means engaged by each dog todetermine its aspect during its travel along the conveyor and whileextending upwardly from the upper surface thereof, each pair of dogsengaging an article and moving it in the direction of movement of theconveyor, one of said hooks associated with each pair of dogs during itstravel across and above the upper surface of the conveyor, and a secondcam means engaged by each hook during a portion of its travel with theconveyor to tilt the hook so that the free end of the carrier bar entersthe center of the annular article as the hook and article traveltogether along the center line of the conveyor.

8. Apparatus for the handling of annular articles comprising anelongated conveyor having a fixed horizontal upper surface and a doublemovable chain adapted to receive the articles one at a time, a carrierhaving a portion which overlies the longitudinal center line of theconveyor between the chains and having hooks dependent therefrom, thecarrier arranged to move at approximately the same speed as theconveyor, each hook having a free-ended carrier bar at its lower end,the bar extending away from the direction of movement of the carrier,each carrier bar residing in a groove located on the center line of theupper surface of the conveyor between the chains during the passage ofits hook over the conveyor, spaced pair of dogs attached to the chainsextending upwardly from the upper surface of the conveyor and movingtherewith, a cam track beneath the upper surface of the conveyor engagedby each dog to determine its aspect during its travel along the conveyorand while extending upwardly from the upper surface thereof, each pairof dogs engaging an article and moving it in the direction of movementof the conveyor, one of said hooks associated with each pair of dogsduring its travel across and above the upper surface of the conveyor,and a second cam track located in the groove in the conveyor engaged byeach hook during a portion of its travel with the conveyor to tilt thehook so that the free end of the carrier bar enters the center of the amnular article as the hook and article travel together along the centerline of the conveyor. i g l 9. Apparatus for the handling of annulararticles comprising a horizontal transfer conveyor, :1 carrier havinglhooks dependent therefrom, each having a portion which overlies theconveyor and removes articles singly from the conveyor, spaced dogsextending upwardly from the conveyor, each dog engaging an amide andmoving it in the direction of movement of the conveyor one of the saidhooks associated with'each dog and having a free end extendingrearwardly of the direction of motion, and means engaged by each dogduring a portion of its travel with the conveyor, the last-named meansgradually tilting the dog rearwardly so that it supports the rearwardportion of the article as the hook begins to remove it from theconveyor.

10. Apparatus for the handling of annular articles comprising ahorizontal transfer conveyor, a carrier having hooks dependent therefromand having a portion which overlies and passes over the conveyor, eachhook having a free end that extends rearwardly of the direction of motion, spaced 'dogs extending upwardly from the conveyor, each dogengaging an article and moving it in the direction of the conveyor, oneof the said hooks associated with each'dog and having a free endadaptedto enter the center of an article and remove it from theconveyor, and a cam track underlying and engaged by the lower part ofeach hook during a portion of its travel with the conveyor, a cam trackserving to tilt the free end of the hook upwardly so that it enters thecenter of the article as the hook and article travel together along theconveyor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

